~ Warning, contents liable to excite! 18+ ONLY NSFW

Book Review – Her Name Is James by CJ Heath

When James Farrow’s father decided he wouldn’t have his 15 year old son under his roof any more, the boy was taken into care. Now James is 18 and is no longer the responsibility of Social Services. He returns home to an uncertain reception.
His volatile father has mellowed over time but his son seems intent to challenge his restraint. In the three years apart, James has taken the first steps toward the future he wants. He wants to make the transition to being the girl he wishes he had been born as.
With a defiant brother and a vicious former friend opposing him, James resumes a relationship with Tina, his friend since they were small and she is the only support he feels he can rely on.
When Tina declares her love for James, he is thrown into greater confusion and realises he has feelings for her.

My Review

Some times in life you come across a story that touches your heart and never ever leaves, this is for me is one of those stories. I had the pleasure of reading this pre-release and I have re-read it a couple of times now as it is such a beautiful story.

Upon reading the first time I found myself completely hooked by the end of the first chapter, in fact by the end of the first page. James’ story is one that is full of twists, turns and highly emotional moments, to the point where I couldn’t put the book down. Each character has been so well thought out and written that I found myself feeling as if I knew them personally.

Whilst reading James’ story I found myself experiencing a whole range of emotions, there were parts that made me laugh out loud, parts that made me cry so hard that I had to take some time to pull myself together and parts where I found myself shouting at the book (haha there’s a strong possibility my neighbours thought I’d lost the plot whilst reading).

I want to tell you more about this book but it’s hard to do without giving the story away, the title really tells you all you need to know. It’s a story about how James struggles to become who he really is whilst trying to gain acceptance of the people that mean the most to him.

The way in which Cj has told the story will make you ask questions of yourself and some of those questions may be uncomfortable to answer, it’s an eye opening story that really has left a lasting impression on my heart.

It is a story that I highly recommend, one that I hope touches the hearts of all that read it.

Living in England on the Hampshire / Surrey border, CJ is married to Sarah and the father of three grown sons. The house is shared with a deaf 19 year old cat who has no idea she doesn’t miaow and instead makes a mooing sound. (Update : Rosie the cat didn’t reach 20; she sleeps with her sister now).

CJ has written for pleasure for more decades than he cares to admit. Growing up on an old fashioned country estate, he’d often be found among the trees of a nearby wood with a book for company

After receiving a payout to leave the Ministry of Defence in a round of budget cuts, he turned his attention to writing with an aim to publish. His desire is to write what he terms as “Rip your heart out” stories; the first of these is ‘Her Name is James’, was released on October 12th 2014, a joint celebration as it marked 10,000 days of being with Sarah.

‘Dark Angel’ was his first book and was released with no fanfare at the end of August 2014. Despite the quiet release, it clawed it’s way to No.6 on the Amazon Gothic chart. The first book of a trilogy, he is actively working on the second book for an end of March release in 2015. This sequel is stronger and longer and will be titled ‘Hell on Earth’.